The historical evidence shows that by the 1860s most working-class children [in England] were at schools paid for by parents with the aid sometimes of the Church or lay charity. By the 1870s some working-class families, especially in the industrial North where wages were higher than in the rural South around London, were beginning to buy their homes with the aid of building societies. By the early 1910s most working-class heads of families were insuring against unemployment, sickness, and ageing. The notion that the working classes of England neglected their families until the state compelled them by law is historical fiction.